John Fahey. Christmas Album (Burnside). We just celebrated Christmas tonight in Menlo Park with revered and traditional music, for this family anyway.

Julia Holter. Ekstasis (Domino) "strays towards pop on occasion (In the Same Room, notably), but it's the cerebral, detached pop of Laurie Anderson or, at a pinch, latterday Japan" Guardian. I think I found this by stalking Christian Carey on Spotify.

Four Tet. Pink (Text Records). "Four Tet is capable of going deeper and expanding higher than almost anyone else out there" Pitchfork

eighth blackbird. meanwhile. (Cedille Records). 'Excerpts from rehearsals of Stephen Hartke's "Meanwhile" with three amazing students from the Colburn School of Music, Los Angeles' YouTube

Los Angeles Percussion Quartet. Rupa-khandha. (Sono Luminus). Best new music of the week.

Jeremy Limb. The Piano Music of Philip Glass (First Creative). So far, I love and hate his interpretations.

Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso UFO. Son of a Bitches Brew (Important). "they never get so referential as to become a pastiche band" (Dusted Magazine). WTF of the week.

ALIAS Chamber Ensemble. Boiling Point: Music of Kenji Bunch (Delos). 'Bunch explains. “These are the works that have led me to define my approach as a composer of what I like to call New American music' NewMusicBox

The achievement of [George] Lucas, like that of Disney, is indisputably a defining element of American culture. But no amount of apotheosis and breathless encomium will elevate it to be other than exactly what it is — entertainment. To see George Lucas as the “greatest living artist” is to repeat an error especially common among Americans, which is to measure an artwork’s importance by its reach rather than its depth. Paglia, who knows her Emily Dickinson and her Kafka (both artists with zero “fan base” in their lifetimes), has journeyed to the wrong continent, and what she has found glittering there is fool’s gold.

Ok, having quoted that, America's most popular living classical composer may instead be John Williams. The greatest works of John Adams are without argument better than those of John Williams (Nixon in China vs. Star Wars!). But in the second tier where reach and depth get murky, Williams' works will outlast Adams'.

This is a long, roundabout way of saying Hallelujah Junction won't be part of the American canon and John Williams is better than George Lucas. H.J., the book is recommended, though.

I have no opinion to offer on Camille Paglia, which is probably her worst nightmare.

As always, I'm tinkering with how I listen to the deluge of available recordings and then how I log it. My current point of view is that the music world still revolves around record labels, so I plan to pay more attention to that dimension (not that I don't believe in works, composers, artists, journalists, blogs, playlists, twitter, YouTube, archaic round disks etc).